I recently came across someone who had become absorbed in writing with pencils again. It immediately caught my attention. All of us have used pencils when we were young—our first writing instruments, really. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped paying attention to them altogether.
The joy with which I received this pencil surprised me. I ordered the set almost immediately and was amused by how quickly it arrived—barely ten minutes later. I was eager enough to wake up early the next morning, at 5:30 am, just to write this blog with it. It felt oddly important to experience it without delay. Writing with it excited me more than I had expected.
These pencils are still easily available in India, from stationery stores to departmental stores. I didn’t really have to order them online at all. Even when I did, the delivery felt almost instant. The best part was that even the smallest box comes with ten pencils. They also come with an eraser—which I hadn’t planned on using—and a sharpener. I didn’t have to look for a sharpener, manual or electric. I had something to write with immediately.
Just like a child, these days I am surprisingly blown away by small, instant pleasures in life. I no longer have to wait for some multigenerational ancestral property to be sold to give me joy.
I eat simple, self-cooked recipes that I come up with myself, sometimes with a little help from ChatGPT. That is more than enough to give me pleasure at lunch. I do not need a five-star chef preparing food at an exorbitant price. Food made by myself always carries more taste and satisfaction than food made by someone else.
Now that I am writing this blog with the new pencil, I have a few observations. Technology has improved since 60 or 70 years ago. These pencils now come with a harder lead, so they apparently last longer. This particular one, marketed as being extra dark, is far from it. At best, it feels like a medium to my eyes, based on what I remember from childhood. Perhaps Nataraj pencils were darker. I don’t know. I recall Apsara being bold and dark.
Despite also being marketed as extra strong, this pencil has already lost quite a bit of the sharpness it had when I first began writing this blog.
Also, contrary to my belief that pencils provide a tactile, slightly resistant feel on paper, this one is much smoother than I prefer. When I choose pens, I usually prefer ones that are not ultra-smooth. I like a very slight roughness that borders on being soft. This pencil, even when it was freshly sharpened, felt smooth from the start.
That said, writing with a pencil has still been very pleasant and completely effortless. My handwriting is marginally better too, even when compared to my very expensive gold nib Sailor fountain pen. And surprisingly, I did end up using the eraser a few times—something I was sure I would never need.
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